Rajkumar Hirani is one of the most famed directors of Hindi film industry who gained recognition for the Munnabhai series. Apart from film direction, he has also worked as screenwriter and editor. Although he began his career as an editor, he soon gained a strong footing amongst the leading directors of the Hindi film industry. His works have received high appreciations from viewers as well as critics and have been honoured with numerous prestigious accolades.

Early Life of Rajkumar Hirani
Rajkumar Hirani was born on 22nd November 1962 to a Sindhi family in Nagpur, Maharashtra. His father, Suresh Hirani, owned a typing institute in Nagpur. The Hirani family migrated from Sindh to India during the Partition of India and Suresh Hirani was 14 years old then. Rajkumar Hirani did his schooling from St. Francis De`Sales High School, Nagpur, and later graduated in commerce. Although he used to help his father in the family business, he always had an inclination to become an actor in Hindi cinema. He was also actively involved with Hindi theatre during his college days. Afterwards his father sent him to the acting school in Mumbai. However Rajkumar Hirani could not get accustomed with the environment and returned to Nagpur within three days. On insistence of his father, he then applied to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. However the acting course at the institute had shut down by then and the chances of getting into the directorial course were slim owing to a large number of applicants. Thus Rajkumar opted for the editing course and also earned a scholarship, thereby relieving the financial pressure of his father.

Career of Rajkumar Hirani
After completing the course at FTII, Rajkumar Hirani struggled for several years to pursue a career in film editing. However the lack of opportunities forced him to start his career with advertising. With time he successfully established himself as a producer and director of advertising films. He also appeared in a Fevicol ad featuring a group of guys and elephants trying to pull and break a Fevicol plank and chanting `Jor laga ke Haisha`. He also appeared in the popular Kinetic Luna ad campaign by O&M. In spite of his success in advertisement business, he took a break from the same and began working with Vidhu Vinod Chopra to pursue a career in the film world. For the film 1942: A Love Story, he worked on trailers and promos. He also edited the promos for the film Kareeb. He got his first major break in films as an editor with the Bollywood flick Mission Kashmir.

Rajkumar Hirani made his directional debut in the year 2003 with the film Munnabhai MBBS which won him huge applauses and recognition in the film industry. The movie has been regarded as cult classic and altered formulaic conventions of Bollywood films, emerging as a trend setter. The film featured Sanjay Dutt, Gracy Singh, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani and became a worldwide hit. His second directorial venture was Lage Raho Munnabhai which posed a powerful cultural impact and greatly popularized Gandhism through Munna Bhai`s perception of Gandhigiri. The film went on to become a huge box office success and was well appreciated by the critics as well as the audience. 3 Idiots, starring Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, R. Madhavan, Boman Irani, Omi Vaidya and Kareena Kapoor, was his third venture. The movie became the highest grosser in Indian cinema and broke all the records across Indian and overseas markets. The film received both critical as well as commercial appreciations. For the films Parineeta and Eklavya: The Royal Guard he has worked as Creative Producer and Executive Producer respectively.

Achievements of Rajkumar Hirani